Composer

When you're working on film music, you're only working on 20, 30-minute sections at a time.

When you're working on film music, you're only working on 20, 30-minute sections at a time.

Theater and film are essentially the same - just different kinds of storytelling.

I like to read and dream and create music that is based on the imagery of text. If you have the combination of a great book and a great filmmaker, what could be better for the composer?

'Hugo' is made in the classical style of the 1940s.

You can find the whole world of a film in one instrument, or you can find a world of sound in the orchestra.

When you're working on film music, you're only working on 20, 30-minute sections at a time.

You can find the whole world of a film in one instrument, or you can find a world of sound in the orchestra.

'Saturday Night Live' was actually started with a show that Lorne Michaels and I did at a summer camp called Timberlane in Ontario when we were 14 and 15. We would do an improvisational show with music, comedy and acting.

I think 'Two Towers' is a completely distinct film from 'Fellowship of the Ring' or 'Return of the King.' I think that you can watch them as a group and watch how the story evolves, but I think each one was made in its own entirety, and each one has its own palate of sound and music and color and characterization.

I read all of the books by Tolkien, including 'The Hobbit,' when I was in my twenties, and his deep love of nature and all things green resonates deeply with me.

I love working with an orchestra, but there are many ways to make music.

When you see 'Lord of the Rings,' you want to feel like you've been dropped into it and that you're part of it. You don't want to be aware of how it's being done; you just want it to feel really seamless.

The sarangi, the ney flute are pretty ancient instruments.

My first score for 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' was the beginning of my journey into the world of Tolkien, and I will always hold a special fondness for the music and the experience.

I live in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. and spend time in the West Village, where my wife Elizabeth Cotnoir, a writer-producer and documentary filmmaker, has an office.

I always believed 'The Fly' to be a classic opera story. It's a tale of love and death, true love surviving in the face of physical decay and ultimate sacrifice.

Composing is sort of an intuitive act. You have to put yourself in the right frame of mind.

All of the silent films had live music accompaniment, so it's actually a very rich period in music.

I love working with an orchestra, but there are many ways to make music.